Jiuxi

Chapter 586 584 [It’s better to go back]

Emperor Jing's deep gaze passed over the stubborn Fourth Prince and fell on Qing Yugong's face.

The expression of the Prince of Changshan finally changed. He seemed a little touched and a little bitter.

Emperor Jing retracted his gaze and said to the Fourth Prince, "When did I ever say you were wrong?"

The fourth prince couldn't help but smile and said, "Father, do you think what I said makes sense?"

In such a solemn and tense occasion, Emperor Jing looked at this innocent face, his expression turned cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Bullshit."

This should be the first time that the emperor said such words at a court meeting.

All the ministers were stunned, and Shangshu Ling Zhao Siwen's brows furrowed even more tightly, like a tangled mess with no clue.

"Father——"

"I ask you to step down."

When Emperor Jing slightly raised his tone, the Fourth Prince immediately retreated obediently.

Crown Prince Nalan looked at the unwilling Fourth Prince with the corner of his eyes and said softly, "Fourth brother, don't make trouble anymore, or you'll get angry with Father."

The concern is beyond words.

The Fourth Prince shrank his neck in fear and said quietly, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Nalan smiled kindly, feeling somewhat envious.

If it were him, he would never dare to act so willfully in front of his father, and he would hope to abide by the rules in his words and actions.

On the other side, the Third Prince Wu Yan sneered in his heart. It was obvious that he couldn't stand this kind of brotherly trick.

Because he is also the Queen's legitimate son and the Crown Prince's biological brother, but he has never enjoyed any care from Nalan. On the contrary, he is treated like a thief and guarded against by the other party.

Emperor Jing did not notice the undercurrents among the princes. He looked at the quiet hall and slowly stood up.

Because of the Fourth Prince's passionate speech, Sagai, who had originally planned to finish the speech, could not leave now, otherwise it would be like being hit in a sore spot by the Fourth Prince.

As for the others, they also heard what Emperor Jing said.

"When did I say you were wrong?"

The implication seems to be that he also considers that the criticism Qing Yugong is bearing is too heavy.

In this case, those Jinglian military heroes would certainly not continue to call for the killing of Qing Yugong.

No matter whether they are introverted or rough, those who can stand in the court and are completely unable to read the expressions of others are after all very few fools.

Emperor Jing took a few steps forward and said calmly, "Prince of Changshan County."

Qing Yugong stepped out of the class and bowed his head, saying, "I am here."

Emperor Jing stood with his hands behind his back, looking through the ministers in the hall to the palace gate in the distance, as if watching the changing situation outside.

He said slowly, "Regarding the Battle of Yongqiu, I want to hear your own thoughts."

In fact, he knew very well that this disastrous defeat was really unavoidable for Qing Yugong and was caused by a combination of many factors.

To be honest, he, the Emperor Jing, also bears some responsibility.

All the ministers were in awe and pricked up their ears for fear of missing a single word.

Qing Yugong was silent for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, during the Battle of Yongqiu, I made three undeniable mistakes."

"speak."

"First, I underestimated the strength of the Southern Qi border army. In the past three years, the Qi army has repeatedly won on the battlefield, but the only time they really confronted our army head-on was in the Battle of Lei Ze. In that battle, the Southern Qi border army gathered heavy troops to complete the encirclement, and our army fought for a long time before being defeated due to the huge disadvantage in manpower. I didn't consider it carefully enough. At the time of the decisive battle, the offensive of the Qi army exceeded the ability of our soldiers to withstand, resulting in the collapse of the army's formation in the end, and there was no power to turn the tide."

"continue."

"Secondly, I misjudged the choice of Qi's commander. Before the Battle of Yongqiu, the four people in Qi who were qualified to take charge of the specific command were Li Tianrun, Xiao Wangzhi, Lu Chen, and Liu Shouguang. I judged that Xiao Wangzhi was the commander and made corresponding arrangements based on his style. However, in the middle of the battle, I found that the commander of Qi should be Lu Chen. It was too late to make adjustments at that time. If I could determine that the Qi army was commanded by Lu Chen, then our army would not be in a passive position at the beginning."

After these words were spoken, many civil officials looked at Qing Yugong with more admiration in their eyes.

Under the premise of being attacked by everyone today, the Marshal of the Southern Court did not try to clear himself of the charges as quickly as possible, but instead admitted his mistakes so frankly, which can be described as upright and bright.

Emperor Jing looked at Qing Yugong expressionlessly and continued to ask, "What about the third one?"

Qing Yugong bowed his head slightly and said with a sigh: "As for the third point, it is that I did not find out the intentions of the Zhai Lin Wang family in advance. Long before the decisive battle, after the defeat at Lu Wushan, I still had the choice of fighting or retreating. However, with the defection of the Zhai Lin Wang family, Heluo City was turned upside down by them, and the army temporarily lost the support from the rear. This was undoubtedly a very dangerous situation. Based on this, I had to seek a decisive battle, and thus stepped into the trap that the Qi army had set long ago."

A strange emotion arose in Emperor Jing's heart.

It seemed that Qing Yugong had realized his change of mood.

The root of the problem lies in the Fourth Prince’s passionate speeches.

Don’t be fooled by the previous excitement about those Jinglian and Wuxun. In fact, it was just a lot of noise but little action.

Emperor Jingdi never thought of forcing Qing Yugong into a desperate situation, and the latter knew it very well, so while others were making a fuss, the monarch and his minister just watched each other from afar.

The tug of war was just to see how far the other party could go. But the appearance of the Fourth Prince made Emperor Jing feel some real anger in his heart.

He sent the Fourth Prince to train with Qing Yugong, but did not allow Qing Yugong to deliberately influence him, let alone take advantage of the Fourth Prince's upright character to create a situation where the royal father and son stood on opposite sides.

This was the reason why Qing Yugong had such a bitter expression before. Obviously, he had not expected that the Fourth Prince would be so foolish as to dare to publicly express his support in front of all the civil and military officials in the court.

Therefore, Qing Yugong gave up defending himself and simply took the blame for the defeat in Yongqiu on himself to show that the Fourth Prince's actions had nothing to do with him.

Emperor Jing sorted out all these threads in a short time, and then said calmly: "Brother Hai just said that the most critical reason for this defeat was the reinforcements from Southern Qi that appeared in the north of Yongqiu."

When Sagai heard this, his heart tightened.

Qing Yugong said calmly, "Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince is young after all and cannot see the overall situation. The appearance of the Southern Qi reinforcements is indeed one of the reasons for our army's defeat, but the root cause of the defeat in this battle is still with me."

He took a step forward, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, what General Wusara said just now is very right. As the commander-in-chief, I must take responsibility. The defeat in Yongqiu resulted in the death of 50,000 men, and the complete loss of Moyang Road. Now even the northern part of Dingzhou has been taken back by the Qi army. If no one is responsible for such a loss, it would be an insult to the thousands of Dajing warriors who fought bravely, so -"

He paused for a moment, and all the civil and military officials in the hall suddenly became nervous.

Qing Yugong raised his eyes to Emperor Jing and said earnestly: "Your Majesty, I, Qing Yugong, request that you dismiss me from my position as the Marshal of the Southern Courtyard and strip me of my title of Prince!"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was a sudden commotion in the quiet hall.

They knew that Qing Yugong would definitely pay the price for this defeat, but they didn't expect that this man could do this.

There are many Jinglian military heroes who covet the position of Marshal of the Southern Court, and even Sagai has thought about this job.

For the Jing Dynasty today, the north is completely incorporated into the territory, and there is only a Beicang tribe struggling to survive in the far northeast. The authority of the North Court is becoming increasingly weak.

The situation in the Southern Court was different. Leaving aside the State of Yan, the Southern Qi also occupied the wealthy land in the south of the Yangtze River, which meant countless military achievements.

When Qing Yu respectfully resigned from the position of Marshal of the Southern Court, many military heroes immediately became excited, but when they heard the next sentence, they felt the atmosphere became even more solemn.

To this day, the Qingyu clan is still a powerful force within the Jing Dynasty, second only to the royal Alihe clan.

If even Qing Yugong's title of Prince was taken away, it would probably trigger a series of unimaginable shocks.

Shangshu Ling Zhao Siwen could no longer bear it.

Normally, the emperor would not do anything too drastic, but now he couldn't figure out what the emperor was thinking. If that scene really happened, Zhao Siwen didn't dare to think about what the consequences would be.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully submit!"

Zhao Siwen walked out of the class tremblingly and stood still.

At this moment, Emperor Jing said sternly: "I know what you want to say, my dear minister, but please leave first."

Zhao Siwen was stunned.

Although he was of Qi descent, Emperor Jing had never cared about it. Instead, he gave him a stage to display his ambitions and respected and trusted him very much. This was the first time that he had been so ruthlessly persuaded to quit.

Looking at the emperor standing solemnly, Zhao Siwen suddenly understood and retreated in silence.

Emperor Jing's gaze still stayed on Qing Yugong's face.

All he saw was relief.

Qing Yugong calmly faced the Emperor's scrutiny and said, "I have failed your Majesty's kindness and the court's expectations. If I don't do this, I will not be able to calm the storm inside and outside the court."

The words were extremely sincere.

After a long while, Emperor Jing said slowly: "Draft an edict to dismiss Qing Yugong from his post as the Marshal of the Southern Court and order him to return to his palace to reflect on himself until he is ready for another appointment."

Zhao Siwen confirmed that there was no follow-up, and couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and said loudly: "I obey your order."

It was just a dismissal. Although this would certainly make the people of Qingyu clan uneasy, it was better than the situation deteriorating further and eventually getting out of control.

Emperor Jing took one last deep look at Qing Yugong, then turned and walked towards the back hall.

"I thank your majesty for his grace!"

Qing Yu bowed respectfully and accepted the order.

Then the call for the court to adjourn was given, and the ministers left in twos and threes with mixed feelings.

It was sunny outside the palace, and the heat was gradually getting a bit intense.

Qing Yugong walked forward alone, and others did not dare to disturb him. Even those officials who were born in the Qing Yu family did not dare to appear in front of Qing Yugong at this time.

The crowd moved forward slowly, like a silent dark cloud.

Qing Yugong looked up at the sky and saw a clear blue sky with clouds floating gently.

Not long after, when he walked out of the palace, he saw Qing Yu Huaijin standing next to the carriage. His face was pale, his lips were tightly pursed, and his eyes were full of reluctance, sadness and anger.

It was obvious that she had already anticipated how today's court meeting would end.

Qing Yugong smiled slightly and said casually: "Let's go home."

(End of this chapter)